Culture – Channel 4 Newshttps://www.channel4.com/news
Sat, 10 Dec 2016 02:55:02 +0000en-GBhourly1Jazz interview with Christian Scotthttps://www.channel4.com/news/jazz-interview-with-christian-scott
Sat, 19 Nov 2016 19:31:21 +0000https://www.channel4.com/news/?post_type=video&p=247937Described by one Jazz magazine as the form’s new “style God”, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah is celebrated for his innovative playing style. But the trumpeter also uses his music to speak out on the politics and social problems of his native America – which has gone down less well with some.
]]>Kate Tempest meets John Cooper Clarkehttps://www.channel4.com/news/kate-tempest-meets-john-cooper-clarke
Thu, 17 Nov 2016 21:05:25 +0000https://www.channel4.com/news/?post_type=video&p=247778They’re performance poets who have each won over armies of fans more used to rock and pop than poetry. But while Kate Tempest’s new album is a hip- hop- influenced political poem, John Cooper Clarke’s new album, with the former Stranglers front man Hugh Cornwell, has him singing classic songs from the 50s. We brought them together to talk about how and why they got into it in the first place…
]]>Trump: Muslim viewshttps://www.channel4.com/news/trump-muslim-views
Fri, 11 Nov 2016 21:29:07 +0000https://www.channel4.com/news/?post_type=video&p=247319Saba Ahmed, who founded the Republican Muslim Coalition, and Rabiah Ahmed, from the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
]]>Green Day on Trump winhttps://www.channel4.com/news/green-day-on-trump-win
Thu, 10 Nov 2016 20:55:13 +0000https://www.channel4.com/news/?post_type=video&p=247226The multi award-winning American band Green Day have never been shy of expressing their political views. So how do they feel about Donald Trump becoming their new president?
]]>Fireman Sam ‘Koran’ episode pulled from streaming sitehttps://www.channel4.com/news/fireman-sam-koran-episode-pulled-from-streaming-site
Tue, 26 Jul 2016 23:00:00 +0000https://www.channel4.com/news/fireman-sam-koran-episode-pulled-from-streaming-site

In one episode of the popular children’s animation, firefighter Elvis Cridlington is carrying a tray of hot drinks and slips after tripping on some paper on the floor of the fire station.

Several sheets fly into the air, one of which is a page from the Muslim holy book.

HIT Entertainment, which produced the show, apologised “unreservedly” to viewers.

The company, which produces brands include Bob the Builder, Pingu and Thomas the Tank Engine, said it had cut ties with the animation studio involved, which it blamed for the mistake.

‘Deeply regret’

A spokeswoman said: “It has been bought to our attention that in an episode of Fireman Sam (Series 9, Episode 7), an image of the Koran is briefly depicted. The page was intended to show illegible text and we deeply regret this error.

“We sincerely apologise for any distress or offence it may have caused.

“We will no longer be working with the animation studio responsible for this mistake. In addition, we are taking immediate action to remove this episode from circulation and we are reviewing our content production procedures to ensure this never happens again.

“Again, we apologise unreservedly to our viewers.”

‘Shocking’

A group called Documenting Oppression Against Muslims (DOAM) tweeted: “Shocking – #Islamophobia in children’s programme #FiremanSam. Video shows character is made to step on the Qur’an.”

DOAM also posted an earlier scene from the episode where what appears to be the same piece of paper makes another fleeting appearance in the background.

It is not clear that the piece of paper stepped on is the page from the Koran.

Miqdaad Versi, from the Muslim Council of Britain, tweeted: “Have no idea what went through the producers’ minds when they thought this was a good idea #baffled.”

The programme first aired in 2014 and was available to watch online at any time on the My 5 video on demand service.

It was last shown by the broadcaster on Milkshake, its children’s breakfast show, on 28 June.

On Tuesday the episode was pulled from Channel 5’s online streaming platform and the broadcaster said it had no plans to show it on TV.

This just doesn’t happen. As a lifelong supporter of Leicester City, I can vouch for the fact that following the Foxes is consistently a story of promotion followed – a few years later – by inevitable relegation. Yes, there is the occasional period of fleeting success – the odd League Cup win. But never an FA Cup and never, never a Premier League title.

And “lifelong support” goes back, in my case, about 50 years. I just missed the last time Leicester were in a position to win the top league title – in 1962-3 – when they became known as the “Ice Kings”, as their groundsman managed to keep their pitch playable while other clubs suffered a series of postponements through a bitterly cold winter.

With a handful of games to play they were top of the league and in the FA Cup final. But they stumbled on the run-in, finishing fourth and losing the Cup Final to Manchester United.

The die was cast

But that final was my first memory of the club. Growing up in rural Lincolnshire in a family with no particular sporting interest, I had not really noticed football, until there was a buzz around the primary school playground. Do you support United or City? I chose Leicester. The die was cast.

For the next few years I followed their progress, cutting out match reports and sticking them into an album, until I was old enough to venture off to see them in the flesh. I vividly remember my first home game, in December 1968, travelling with a coachful of Manchester United supporters (them again) to Filbert Street to see Leicester win 2-1 against a team including Best, Law and Charlton. I was the only one in the stand who was celebrating. I don’t think I could get away with that these days.

After that, I was hooked – finding one way or another to make it to the East Midlands from wherever I happened to be over the next half a century.

The first highlight came in the mid-70s when manager Jimmy Bloomfield put together a side of all the talents, including Keith Weller, Frank Worthington and, my personal favourite, winger Len Glover. It was great to watch. But the side never won anything.

Rag-bag side of scrappers

We had to wait 20 years for another golden period, under Martin O’Neill. He put together a rag-bag side of scrappers who consistently played above themselves, finishing in the Premiership top 10 for four successive seasons and twice winning the League Cup.

But it didn’t last. O’Neill went to Celtic and it all fell apart, ending in administration in 2002 and relegation down to the third tier for the first time in our history in 2008.

Then came Nigel Pearson. He built a team spirit and will to win that has lasted to this day. He got us back into the Premier League where, last season, he presided over the greatest of great escapes from relegation. They owe him a lot.

His methods were unconventional – there was the “ostrich” jibe at a reporter in a press conference, the touch-line tangle with a Crystal Palace player and then – after an unsavoury incident on a pre-season tour in Thailand involving his son (one of the team’s youth players) – Pearson was unceremoniously fired by the club’s Thai owners.

Claudio Ranieri? Really?

That was it, we all feared – a feeling hardly dissipated with the appointment of Claudio Ranieri as the new manager. Gary Lineker – the club’s most high-profile supporter – famously tweeted: “Claudio Ranieri? Really?” Leicester started the season at 5,000-1 to win the title.

But it’s been a season beyond all expectations. The Tinkerman has been an inspiration. There was the Jamie Vardy record run of scoring in 11 successive league games (the record-breaker coming against Manchester United), the magic of Mahrez, the irrepressible Kanté, our indomitable centre-backs Huth and Morgan. Every player has played his part.

For most of the season we couldn’t – daren’t – believe it. But on Saturday 6 February it began to seem possible – a 3-1 win at Manchester City, the Barcelona of the Premier League, with Mahrez at his brilliant best.

The pundits said Leicester would crumble. They said it before Christmas and again on the run-in. But now, with three games to go, they need just three points to make the fairy-tale become reality.

And the next game? Away to Manchester United. Surely it couldn’t happen there… could it?

The six women and three men reached their finding of unawful killing, by a seven to two majority, following the longest jury proceedings in British legal history.

Jurors decided that police planning errors “caused or contributed” to the dangerous situation that developed on the day of the disaster. They also concluded that the fans had died “as a result of crushing” and that fan behaviour did not cause or contribute to the tragedy.

They had been told by the coroner they could only return a finding of unlawful killing if they were satisfied that match commander, Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, owed a duty of care to those who died in the disaster, and that he was in breach of that duty of care.

They would also need to be sure that his breach of duty caused the deaths and that it amounted to “gross negligence”.

Crushed

Mr Duckenfield gave an order shortly before kick-off to open an exit gate at Sheffield Wednesday’s football stadium, allowing around 2,000 fans to flood into the already packed central pens behind the goal.

Some 96 Liverpool supporters were subsequently crushed in what is Britain’s worst sporting disaster.

Fans had gathered for the FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest, which had to be abandoned.

The hearings in Warrington have lasted two years, with the jury hearing evidence from around 1,000 witnesses.

Dozens of relatives of the victims have attended each of the more than 300 days the court has sat at Bridgewater Place on the Cheshire town’s Birchwood Park business park.

The 1991 accidental deaths verdicts from the original inquests were quashed following the 2012 Hillsborough Independent Panel report after a long campaign by the families of the dead.

Wood died at home in London surrounded by her family. The popular entertainer, who also wrote and directed, was 62.

Her publicist, Neil Reading, said: “Victoria Wood has sadly passed away, after a short but brave battle with cancer.”

‘Unfillable void’

Wood’s long-term manager and friend, Phil McIntyre, said: “Victoria has been a part of our lives as a friend, devoted mother and national treasure for 30 years. She was always modest, generous and undemanding. A super person and a super and unique talent. There will be an unfillable void left on all levels and we will miss her deeply.”

Wood was well known for her comedy series Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV, as well as her role in sitcom Dinnerladies and her TV special Victoria Wood With All The Trimmings.

In 2006, she won two Bafta awards for acting and writing for her drama Housewife, 49, an adaptation of the diaries of Nella Last. In 1997, she was made an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours and was then made a CBE in 2008.

Wood, who got her showbusiness break as a winner on New Faces, won two other Baftas earlier in her career, both for best light entertainment performance. The first was for Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV in 1986 and An Audience With Victoria Wood in 1989.

Victoria Wood As Seen On TV also won the Bafta for best entertainment programme in 1986, 1987 and 1988, while An Audience With Victoria Wood won the same award in 1989. She received a special Bafta tribute award in 2005.

Comedy

Wood’s live comedy was often interspersed with her own compositions and she frequently played the piano. She also composed and performed the theme music for Dinnerladies.

David Cameron described her as a “national treasure loved by millions”. Wood’s fellow comedians were also quick to pay their respects on social media.

Jack Dee tweeted: “I feel privileged to have known and worked with the great Victoria Wood. Unique and truly brilliant,” while Ricky Gervais wrote: “RIP the brilliant Victoria Wood. So innovative, funny and down to earth. This has not been a good year.”

Her list of designs includes famous buildings such as the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympic Games, the Maxxi Museum in Italy, the Guangzhou Opera House in China and the Heydar Aliyev Centre in Azerbaijan.

Born in Baghdad in 1950, she studied mathematics at the American University of Beirut before starting her design journey in 1972 at the Architectural Association in London.

More than 40 years later, the Royal Institute Of British Architects (Riba) announced Dame Zaha as the recipient of its prestigious 2016 Royal Gold Medal, approved personally by the Queen.

Dame Zaha grew up in the Iraqi capital and displayed her individualism at an early age by designing her bedroom when she was nine.

Born to a Sunni Muslim family – her father was a politician and her mother was a housewife – she was taught by Roman Catholic nuns.

By 1979 she had established her own practice in London – Zaha Hadid Architects – garnering a reputation across the world for her trail-blazing theoretical works, including The Peak in Hong Kong, the Kurfurstendamm office building in Berlin and the Cardiff Bay Opera House in Wales.

She won acclaim in Scotland for designing the popular Riverside Museum in Glasgow, known for its distinctive roof structure.

Her first major built commission was the Vitra Fire Station in Weil Am Rhein, Germany, in 1993.

In 2004, Dame Zaha became the first woman to be awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize. She has twice won the UK’s most prestigious architecture award, the Riba Stirling Prize – in 2010 for the Maxxi Museum in Rome, and in 2011 for the Evelyn Grace Academy in London.

Other awards include the Republic of France’s Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Japan’s Praemium Imperiale.
In 2012, Dame Zaha was honoured in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to architecture.

She was awarded an honorary degree from Goldsmiths to recognise her inventive approach and eagerness to challenge conventions in September 2014.

They want the traditional game replaced by touch rugby and non-contact rugby in schools.

In an open letter to ministers and chief medical officers, they describe rugby as a “high-impact collision sport” and say the risks of injuries to under-18s “are high and injuries are often serious”.

The letter says contact rugby is compulsory in many secondary schools from the age of 11 and that most injuries occur during “contact or collision, such as the tackle and the scrum”.

It adds: “These injuries, which include fractures, ligamentous tears, dislocated shoulders, spinal injuries and head injuries, can have short-term, life-long, and life-ending consequences for children.”

The letter says concussion is a common injury, with a risk of depression, memory loss and diminished verbal abilities.

It also says injuries can result in “significant time loss from school” and criticises the government’s drive to increase the playing of rugby in English state schools.

‘Catastrophic risk of injury’

One of the signatories, Professor Allyson Pollock from Queen Mary University of London, said: “Children are being left exposed to serious and catastrophic risk of injury.

“As a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UK and Irish governments should ensure the safety of rugby, by removing the contact from the children’s game in schools.”

Prof Pollock, a prominent public health doctor, became interested in rugby safety after her son Hamish was badly injured while playing the sport as a 14-year-old.

He ended up concussed after his cheekbone was shattered during a collision with another player’s knee.

She was told by doctors that his injuries were akin to what happened to people when they were propelled through windscreens in car crashes. Hamish had also broken a leg playing rugby the previous year.

Another teenage rugby player, Ben Robinson, from Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, died in 2011 after suffering concussion in a collision.

‘High quality coaching’

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) said that “high quality coaching, officiating, medical support and appropriate player behaviour” helped to reduce the risk of injury.

It said rugby in English schools or clubs could be played as either a contact or a non-contact sport.

An RFU spokesman said young players were being given longer to master the basics of the game before contact was introduced.

The Department for Education said it expected schools to “be aware of the risks associated with sporting activities and to provide a safe environment for pupils”.

A spokesman said: “PE and sport can help ensure that all young people realise their potential and is an important part of our commitment to preparing children for life in modern Britain.”

]]>Inside the world’s first transgender madrassahttps://www.channel4.com/news/inside-the-worlds-first-transgender-madrassa
Sat, 13 Feb 2016 14:22:37 +0000https://www.channel4.com/news/?post_type=video&p=248018Issues around sexuality and gender are still sensitive in Indonesia – but there are some more positive signs of tolerance – like a school for transgender women, known as Waria. Jonathan Miller visit the world’s first transgender madrassa.
]]>The incredible creative life force that was David Bowiehttps://www.channel4.com/news/by/jon-snow/blogs/incredible-creative-life-force-david-bowie
https://www.channel4.com/news/by/jon-snow/blogs/incredible-creative-life-force-david-bowie#commentsMon, 11 Jan 2016 16:57:44 +0000http://blogs.channel4.com/snowblog/?p=26100If I was one for wearing a black tie, this would be a day for one.

I found my blackest tie this morning as news of Bowie’s death broke upon us. Fortunately that black tie is striped with colour – just as Bowie’s face could be.

So you may wonder why some straight old newsman is churned up by Bowie’s untimely death.

Well, he was emblematic of my generation. He was revolution, rebellion even in a time when we all rebelled against the given order.

His music swept us up, inspired us, lifted us.

Sure, we had the Beatles, we had the Stones, the Who, but they were rock bands.

Sure, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds edged us toward Bowie’s world. But Life on Mars, Can you hear me Major Tom, they captured the zeitgeist of our time.

But then I find other generations claiming him for their own too – my daughters, their friends and beyond. It is hard indeed to imagine the death of another public person that could have quite this effect.

In part it was the private Bowie that was so public on his own terms.

Look at the last video of his life, the one he made for the album released just 48 hours before he died.

There he is, his dying head on a white pillow – a public display of what he had kept to very private – eighteen months suffering, and eventually dying of a cancer that only his closest circle knew of and never spoke of.

Why, I was so ignorant, I wrote to him a couple of weeks before Christmas begging to interview him ahead of his very publicly trailed latest album. Little did I know that he had settled upon this unsurprising way of saying goodbye to us all, and when it came it was a shocking surprise.

Sure, it was perhaps a manufactured mystique, but Bowie was a breed apart, a one off – we shall not see his eclectic, artistic like again. I haven’t even mentioned that spellbinding show he had at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.

Can you hear me Major Bowie? If you can, there is most assuredly, Life on Mars.

The death of music legend and cultural icon David Bowie is being keenly felt across the world, with tributes in the form of notes, wreathes and flowers being made outside his Berlin home, on his Hollywood walk of fame star and at the door of his New York apartment.
But the loss appears to be most greatly felt in his place of birth, Brixton.

Many fans are holding a vigil at Australian street artist James Cochran’s South London mural of the icon, whilst the Ritzy cinema erected a memorial on its front shutters, reading ‘David Bowie, Our Brixton Boy, RIP.’

Bowie was born David Robert Jones at 40 Stansfield Road, Brixton in January 1947, where he spent his early years. He went to Stockwell Primary School – where he sung in his school choir and was reported as having an ‘adequate’ singing voice – until his parents moved to Beckenham in 1953.

A place known for its vibrancy, diversity and colourful cultural scene, residents intend to mourn their ‘Brixton Boy’ in the true spirit of the district and the legend.

‘He sure left us some great music’

Brixton Buzz, a local blog, is hosting a ‘Let’s Dance’ party to honour ‘The Thin White Duke’ in a pub around the corner from where he was born.

‘Tonight, we’re going to drink, dance and celebrate Brixton’s finest son with a night of David Bowie music in the Prince Albert on Coldharbour Lane Brixton – not far from where the great man was born’ a blogpost reads.

‘We’ll be playing his hits, album tracks, obscurities and more – plus some of his musical influences and the artists he inspired – and screening videos and photos of the great man.’

In addition to Brixton Buzz’s party, there are also Bowie nights at local pubs and restaurants.

While fans left flowers and messages outside Bowie’s childhood home in Brixton, south London, musicians from all genres were quick to pay tribute online to the singer, who embraced countless musical styles in his long, eclectic career.

Madonna said he was the first artist she saw in concert while growing up in Detroit, while MIA tweeted that Bowie “was connected to the source”.

Rapper Kanye West said: “David Bowie was one of my most important inspirations, so fearless, so creative, he gave us magic for a lifetime.”

David Bowie was one of my most important inspirations, so fearless, so creative, he gave us magic for a lifetime.

British astronaut Tim Peake, who is currently orbiting the earth on the space station, tweeted: “Saddened to hear David Bowie has lost his battle with cancer – his music was an inspiration to many.”

The Vatican also turned to the lyrics of Space Oddity, with Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi tweeting: “Ground Control to Major Tom/ Commencing countdown, engines on/ Check ignition and may God’s love be with you (David Bowie).”

Bowie rarely spoke about his religious beliefs, but did once say he was “not quite an atheist”.

He generally avoided politics too, after blaming an apparent flirtaion with the far-right in the 1970s on being “out of my mind” on drugs.

But several statesmen said they were saddened at the news of his death.

I grew up listening to and watching the pop genius David Bowie. He was a master of re-invention, who kept getting it right. A huge loss.

Prime Minister David Cameron wrote: “I grew up listening to and watching the pop genius David Bowie. He was a master of re-invention, who kept getting it right. A huge loss.”

Another politician who posted a tribute was Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who referenced the 1977 hit Heroes, calling the star “a hero for so much more than just one day”.

Bowie controversially weighed into the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, when he ended a speech accepting a Brit award – read out by supermodel Kate Moss – with the plea: “Scotland – stay with us.”

One intriguing tribute came from the German Foreign Office, who posted live footage of Bowie performing Heroes, a song that contains an apparent reference to the Berlin Wall: “I can remember standing by the wall/And the guns shot above our heads.”

The star recorded a trilogy of acclaimed albums in Berlin in the late 70s, and in 1987 took part in a concert near the Wall that divided West Berlin from the communist East.

Bowie sang Heroes and spoke German to the crowd. Frustrated East Berliners trying to listen from the other side of the border rioted. A few days later, US President Ronald Readan urged his Soviet counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev: “Tear down this wall!